It is strange being a Stay-at-home-Dad. For instance a chant of "ihopeiwinatoaster, ihopeiwinatoaster" floating up the basement steps. My nearly seven [eight] (now nine) ((now ten)) [[eleven]] {twelve} year-old twin boys concoct, devise, arrange, invent, write, say, imagine and dream the damndest things. Things that make me wonder. Ideas and stories that I may think on for days after I encounter them. I'll share some here. They made me do this.
Essential. Childhood. Nonsense. Explained.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

The Memification of Folder X

I have, of late, been wordy, verbose and irritatingly long-winded around here lately here, on this page.

I had every intention of being the same today.

I'm sorta kidding, but I'm not. School starts a week from tomorrow. The boys are nervous, I'm nervous, Marci is nervous. I had a soothing, gentle post all lined up to go and I was looking for an image to go with it. Inside a folder inside a folder these seven images have been hiding for two years. When I opened it and saw what was inside a wave of nostalgia and whimsy came back from when I first started here.

I abandoned the sentimental slop I'd been working on and did this instead.

I don't really know why I took this particular series of pictures. I think the boys encouraged me to take them, or - more likely - I needed them to clean up and they wouldn't put these away unless I chronicled them. Sometimes I take pictures of things that really don't matter too much so we can get rid of them. Actually, that may have been the theme in my early days here.

Anyway, I don't know what any of these are or why they're important so I did the mature thing and made some simple memes out of them. Yes, clever, I know. This is really the first time I've tried this around here and certainly, other than some snarky FB thing, the first time I've tried to memify an image of something of the boys.

(Apologies to all the real folks who do this for a living.)

Nick arranged all the items in one box on the carpet:

The funny thing is Nick loves those "Find-It" puzzles and such.

I remember Zack spent a lot of time with this one, he went on to build a whole restaurant around it as I recall:

I am not sure why I find that so funny...

There's this bit of inspired madness. Mike over at a site called Spoon and Knife suggested the trading card idea and this one also:

This is a part of that scene as well:

What is up with that guy on the right, in the wig, with the Statue of Liberty crowny thing and a lamb in his lap?

I have a vague recollection of them making this fort, sort of, a little, well... maybe not:

That's a good fort right there, I don't care what ya say.

There was one other one, a picture that made me sigh a little when I saw it. Remember, these are two years old. It is eerie in a way to see how little and how much they've changed in that time. I like this image, it is how I remember them, how I see them, how they are and forever shall be... boys, growing up, and out, and into my heart. Melancholy is hard and bittersweet.

I went upstairs and tried to sneak a candid shot of them. They caught me. Nick gave Zack "bunny ears" in all three damn pictures - he's sort of a Ninja at it. I didn't see them until I looked at the photos after they were done.

So, that's how they are now, were then, will be... damn, trapped in the strange space/time loop I always get in here. Whose 'now,' whose 'when?' I am never sure.

You know what? I lied. I did do a meme like thingee once a long while back. Lemme go try to find it...

Wow, sorry I was gone so long there, I had a nice trip down memory lane looking for this. It's from March, 2013:

I tried to reenact it but the boys would have none of it, but the sentiment remains the same:

Listen, I know life gets serious. I know life gets busy. But... life gets silly, too. And serendipitous, and curiously profound and roundabout and odd.

Thanks for coming by today. I'll get back to the feels again soon. I've got most of something written that you might remember I abandoned earlier today. But, for now, I'll just leave this as it is.

You might have noticed I didn't link the site I mentioned above, you know, Spoon & Knife. Well, I was going to, but, honestly, I didn't want to lose you to it. It is a beautiful site with great information and recipes and stuff and, well, it's better than mine, prettier and to the point. Check out this steak article there, "Grilled Steak Shootout." Yeah, that's some pretty good stuff. Thanks for your help, Mike.

So, I'll say goodbye again, and thanks for looking over my shoulder as I looked back a couple of years. It was fun.

From Marci's "... things you don't expect to hear from the backseat ..." (upon hearing an advertisement for a Reds statuette giveaway) "What's the point if it doesn't bobble?"

It's a pretty valid point...

Peace to you, keep the boys in mind when the school year starts, hope the best for them, because "a hope is always a prayer."